Survivors of lockdown heart attacks are likely to die 18 MONTHS earlier, study warns 

Patients who suffered a heart attack during the first Covid lockdown are likely to die 18 months earlier than if it had happened before the pandemic, a study has found.

Healthcare disruption, fears of contracting the virus in hospital and campaigns to tell people to stay home caused many to delay seeking care, researchers say.

The resulting damage to these heart attack patients is likely to shorten their lives, reduce their quality and cost the UK economy £36.6 million, largely due to absenteeism from work.

The NHS was criticized for neglecting non-Covid care during the pandemic, leading to an increase in deaths and record waiting lists of 7.2 million people.

Study author Professor William Wijns, from the University of Galway, Ireland, said officials need to do more to protect services during future disasters.

He said: ‘The findings illustrate the consequences of delayed or missed care.

“Patients and societies will pay the price of reduced treatment for heart attacks during just one month of lockdown for years to come.

“Health services need a list of life-saving therapies that must be delivered at all times, and resilient healthcare systems need to be put in place that can transition to emergency plans without delay.

“Public awareness campaigns should highlight the benefits of timely care, even during a pandemic or other crisis.”

Heart attacks require urgent treatment with stents — called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) — to open the blocked artery and restore the flow of oxygen-carrying blood.

Delays and the resulting lack of oxygen lead to irreversible damage to the heart muscle and can cause heart failure or other complications.

When a large amount of heart tissue is damaged, the heart stops beating – known as cardiac arrest – and this can be fatal.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal – Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes, estimated the long-term clinical and economic implications of reduced heart attack treatment during the pandemic in the UK and Spain.

During the first wave, about 40 percent fewer heart attack patients went to the hospital.

Compared to getting timely treatment, heart attack patients who stayed home were more than twice as likely to die, while those who delayed going to the hospital were nearly twice as likely to have serious complications that could have been avoided.

The researchers compared the predicted life expectancy of patients who had a heart attack during the first lockdown with those who had a heart attack at the same time the year before.

The study focused on ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), in which an artery supplying blood to the heart is completely blocked.

The researchers also compared the costs of STEMIs during the lockdown with the corresponding period the year before.

A model has been developed to estimate long-term survival, quality of life and costs.

The UK analysis compared the period March 23, 2020, when the lockdown started, to April 22, 2020, with the same time in 2019.

Survival prognoses took into account age, hospitalization status and time to treatment using published data for each country.

It was estimated that 77 per cent of STEMI patients in the UK were in hospital prior to the pandemic, compared to 44 per cent during the lockdown.

The researchers also compared how many years of perfect health were lost for patients with a STEMI before versus during the pandemic.

The cost analysis focused on initial hospitalization and treatment, follow-up treatment, treatment of heart failure and loss of productivity in patients unable to return to work.

For the UK, the cost of a STEMI admission with PCI was £2,837, while the cost for heart failure was estimated to be £6,086 in the first year and £3,882 in all subsequent years.

The analysis predicted that patients who had a STEMI during the UK’s first lockdown would lose an average of 1.55 years of their lives compared to patients who presented before the pandemic.

In addition, those with a STEMI were predicted to lose about a year and two months in perfect health during their lifetime.

The equivalent figures for Spain were 2.03 years of life lost and about one year and seven months of life lost in perfect health.

In the UK, the additional cost of one STEMI during the pandemic compared to before was £8,897, including £214 for the National Health Service and £8,684 in absenteeism.

Based on an incidence of 49,332 STEMIs per year, reduced access to PCI during the first month of lockdown is expected to cost an additional £36.6 million over the lives of these patients.

Professor Wijns said: ‘Restrictions on the treatment of life-threatening conditions have immediate and long-term negative consequences for individuals and society as a whole.

“Backup plans should be in place so that emergency services can be maintained even during natural or health disasters.”

Dr. Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘The coronavirus pandemic was devastating because we all had to deal with a new virus to which none of us were immune.

“Reducing Covid-19 transmission was vital to protecting lives, especially for people with cardiovascular disease who were vulnerable to serious illness and death from Covid.

“We know that people were afraid of being exposed to the coronavirus or being a burden on the health care system, not even calling for heart attack symptoms.

Still, heart attacks are life-threatening emergencies in which every minute counts — delays in treatment can lead to avoidable heart failure or even death.

‘In future major incidents, it is important that people gain confidence that they can safely seek help for emergencies.

“It’s essential to call 999 immediately if you’re experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack — it could save your life.”

A government spokesman said: “We are determined to learn from the findings of the Covid inquiry, which will play a key role in informing the government’s planning and preparations for the future.”